THE People’s National Congress Reform (PNCR) on Tuesday officially accepted nominations for key posts within the party as it heads into its biennial congress next month. However, there is no challenge to the incumbent Leader, President David Granger. Since being elected as leader of the party in 2012, Granger has not been challenged for the position.

“He will most likely be unopposed at the elections; at the moment so far, from nominations we received, the leader is unopposed”, said General-Secretary of the PNCR, Amna Ally, during a press conference at Congress Place on Tuesday.
Members of the party were able to officially nominate persons for key positions in the party’s executive arm on “Nominations Day”.

Persons were given the opportunity to submit their nominations from Tuesday morning to 2:00pm on the same day. The process was overseen by Returning Officer Michael Somersaul and Assistant General-Secretary, John Gates.

While the leader will go unopposed, there will be competition for the post of chairman of the party. Senior members of the PNCR Volda Lawrence and Joseph Harmon will challenge incumbent Chairman Basil Williams for his post.
“The chairman of the party is an important post, because that person must take up responsibilities of the leader for 90 days, if the current leader is no longer able to serve”, said Ally.

While known faces were nominated for chairman of the party, new persons were included in the run for vice-chairman. Among the new faces were Minister within the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, Annette Ferguson and James Bond. They will be challenged by US-based PNCR member, Cosbert Roberts, Winston Felix, Volda Lawrence, Joseph Harmon and Dr. George Norton for the position.

When asked why most of the nominations were familiar faces, Ally said it could have been because of their experience, commitment and dedication to the party. She also noted that the party is open to young and new people as well. “We don’t have barriers as to whether we want old and experienced people or young and new,” said the general-secretary.

Earlier this month, Williams had told reporters that anyone contending for his post should lay bare their body of work on behalf of the party and also called for an internal debate by candidates before members. “What I would want is, the members of [the] PNC to be afforded an opportunity to hear a debate from all of the candidates. People must come and tell the membership why they want people to vote for them,” said Williams, who is also the country’s attorney general and minister of legal affairs. He told reporters that his track record is well known and as such, anybody “who wants to challenge me must show their track record.” “That is all I am saying,” he stated emphatically. Williams noted that the members of his party are intelligent people and as such, would judge on the basis of track records.

The PNC chairman made it clear that his legal victories are well known and as such, there is no surprise when it comes to his service to Guyana. He pointed out his many pro bono undertakings as an attorney for the party. “I have always had victories; y’all know me. “This current executive took us into office and if we were good to take us into government, why after three years when we are ready to look at the last two years, would you want to change the team. You don’t want to change your winning team. You learn that in cricket and as the Americans would say, ‘if it isn’t broken why fix it’.”

Harmon, who has been a member of the PNC since 1973, had announced mere days after the PNC held its second General Council meeting that the party is democratic. He reminded that at the party’s upcoming Biennial Delegates’ Congress, all positions of leadership will be contested and so his announcement should not be seen in isolation from the party’s democracy. “That is the democracy which we practise. So every member of the party can aspire to the highest office in our party and like many others, I am a member of the party of longstanding and therefore have indicated that it is my desire and my interest in putting myself up as a candidate for the chairmanship of the party,” he said in the brief statement.

Harmon, a lawyer by profession, became a member of Pouderoyen Young Socialist Movement (YSM). He was later elected chairman of the Pouderoyen YSM, after which he was elected assistant secretary of the West Demerara Region of the YSM in the 1970s.
Meanwhile, Lawrence announced her candidacy for the party’s chairmanship in Linden a few weeks ago. Lawrence, who serves as Minister of Public Health, will be competing against Williams, SC and Harmon when the PNCR Biennial Delegates’ Congress is held in August. An accountant by profession, Lawrence acquired her Degree in Accounting from the University of Guyana and a Master’s Degree from Gloucester University, England.
She is also a Certified Chartered Accountant (ACCA Level II). In the party, she is a member of the Central Executive Committee (CEC), and heads the Human Services and Welfare Department of the PNCR. Prior to her post as Minister of Public Health, she was the Minister of Social Protection under the A Partnership for National Unity + Alliance For Change (APNU+AFC) government.